The McGuffin Film Society can confirm that negotiations are now underway to revive Waltham Forest’s EMD Cinema as a flagship venue for culture and entertainment.

A range of key players and potential investors are engaged in talks with the development consortium in charge of the project and it is hoped this much loved building can soon be restored to its proper use.

Meanwhile, the Antic pub group has been granted permission – by new owners Downing LLP – to operate a temporary ‘pop-up’ pub in the foyer of the cinema for up to two years while plans are finalised to deliver a sustainable and coherent long term future for the venue.

The McGuffin Film Society and Waltham Forest Cinema Trust remain closely involved in discussions aimed at securing a complete restoration of the cinema building as part of the wider redevelopment of the site. Our partners at Soho Theatre are currently devising plans for a full scale return to entertainment and cultural use at the EMD with the active support of Waltham Forest Council. Further details and announcements can be expected in 2017.

The McGuffin Film Society would like to thank everyone who has supported our long campaign to save the cinema so far and we look forward to bringing you further updates in the very near future.

For the very latest news bulletins, join our mailing list via this link.

A complete history of the McGuffin Film Society and the campaign to save the EMD Cinema – with exclusive photos and film footage – can be found here.

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has sold Waltham Forest’s EMD Cinema.

The sale was agreed in November 2014 and completed in May 2015. The cinema site (which includes the Victoria bar and adjoining shops) could potentially be reopened as an entertainment venue, restaurant and pub if planning permission and listed building consent is granted.

A development consortium – which includes the Antic pub chain – will be working with Waltham Forest Council and other partners to ensure an acceptable scheme is devised for this historic site.

In a statement, the McGuffin Film Society said:

“This is the first time in Britain that UCKG has been forced to abandon plans to convert a historic entertainment venue for their activities. We would like to thank everyone in the community who has supported our campaign to save the cinema. As we have always made clear, we will support any prospective new owner who aims to revive this unique venue for entertainment and culture. We can assure supporters that all of us involved in plans for the EMD’s regeneration – including Soho Theatre and Waltham Forest Cinema Trust – will continue working together to secure the cinema’s future”.

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Waltham Forest’s historic EMD Cinema closed in 2003 when it was purchased by the controversial Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a wealthy international organisation with plans to convert the venue for religious use.

Following a massive local campaign led by the McGuffin Film Society, the government held a Public Inquiry in the summer of 2003 which ruled that the building remained commercially viable as a cinema and should not be converted into a church. Despite receiving at least 12 serious offers from potential buyers, UCKG refused to sell the building and instead left it empty and decaying.

At the beginning of 2009 UCKG unveiled a new scheme to convert the iconic Walthamstow venue into a church. The new proposals envisaged the vast majority of the site being used exclusively as a church with some space adapted to create a small venue for “community hire at commercial rates”.

In March 2009 more than 400 residents gathered to discuss the new proposals at a public meeting organised by the McGuffin Film Society. 100% of those in attendance voted in favour of reviving the EMD as a cinema.

The following month UCKG held an exhibition of their plans and the McGuffin Film Society responded by organising a huge demonstration outside the EMD Cinema attended by over 600 local residents and attracting coverage from television, radio and the international press.

Messages of support were also received from a number of celebrities (see below).

Shortly afterwards, several high profile cinema operators went on the record to confirm their ongoing interest in reviving the EMD (read their statementshere). UCKG’s new planning application was published in August 2009 and a Day of Action was organised by the McGuffin Film Society to enable residents to register their objections to the scheme. More than 1000 local people sent written objections to the council for consideration as part of the planning process.

With the EMD issue and UCKG’s plans mired in huge controversy, Waltham Forest Council began 2010 by commissioning a fully independent review to provide a balanced overview of the situation and identify viable solutions for the cinema.

Regeneration specialists Locum Consultants were appointed to undertake a thorough investigation of the case and assess all options for the venue’s future. With the review process expected to last several months, it became clear that no decision on the EMD would be reached before the 2010 parliamentary and council elections.

The McGuffin Film Society therefore organised a huge election hustings meeting, inviting all the area’s parliamentary and council candidates to debate the future of the EMD Cinema in public. Under the banner ‘Vote Cinema’, the lively meeting was attended by more than 500 local residents – a turnout far outnumbering any other election event in the borough.

In April Locum Consultants inspected the EMD building and held meetings with council officers, UCKG and the McGuffin Film Society. Waltham Forest Council confirmed that no decision on UCKG’s planning application would be made until the outcome of the Locum investigation had been published.

In August the Locum report was finally released and firmly endorsed many of the arguments made by the McGuffin Film Society, concluding that the EMD was “probably the single most valuable asset Walthamstow has” while its revival would be “perhaps the only venture that could seriously put Walthamstow on the map as an evening destination”. The Locum report went on to recommend that the best option for the EMD would be the formation of an independent charitable Trust to secure and administer its long-term future. The full Locum report can be readhere. The report’s recommendations led directly to the formation of Waltham Forest Cinema Trust, a not-for-profit organisation ready to acquire the EMD building for cultural use if a purchase became possible.

On Wednesday 18 May 2011 Waltham Forest Council’s planning committee met to reach a verdict on UCKG’s proposals. Amidst unprecedented scenes, more than 700 people attended the planning committee meeting at Walthamstow Assembly Hall to hear the debate and witness the vote.

Representatives from the McGuffin Film Society and Waltham Forest Cinema Trust spoke alongside Stella Creasy MP in support of the EMD’s revival while the church leaders delivered an angry defence of their scheme. At the end of the meeting, the planning committee voted to reject UCKG’s proposals. The decision was unanimous and supported by all political parties.

UCKG then contacted the government’s Planning Inspectorate to request a full Public Inquiry in order to challenge the council’s verdict.

2012 began with confirmation that the government would hear UCKG’s appeal and a Public Inquiry was scheduled for the early spring. The McGuffin Film Society immediately began promoting details of the appeal process and over 1000 written objections were submitted.

During preparatory meetings for the Inquiry, UCKG unveiled a hastily revised plan which now involved operating the EMD as a hybrid church-cinema. The government inspectors judged this was effectively an entirely new proposal and the Inquiry was postponed. UCKG was granted more time to formalise this proposal as yet another planning application which was delivered to Waltham Forest Council in June.

A further planning committee meeting at Walthamstow Assembly Hall was set for September 4 which again saw hundreds of residents gather in support of the EMD and UCKG’s schemes unanimously rejected once more.

Shortly afterwards the government confirmed a Public Inquiry could now proceed.

As the Inquiry began, the Cabinet of Waltham Forest Council met on Tuesday December 4 and voted unanimously to support a Compulsory Purchase Order of the EMD Cinema if UCKG’s plans were rejected by the government. Although a CPO had been debated on many occasions in the past, this was the first time it had been formally adopted as council policy.

The Public Inquiry ran for a period of three weeks and evidence was heard from the McGuffin Film Society, Waltham Forest Cinema Trust and potential partners Curzon Cinemas and Soho Theatre.

In May 2013 the government announced that UCKG’s proposals to convert the EMD Cinema for their religious activities had been rejected.

In July 2014 Waltham Forest Council confirmed its intention to seek a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to take control of the site if a voluntary sale did not take place. Four months later UCKG revealed they had begun negotiations to sell the EMD Cinema to the Antic Pub Collective.

We would like to thank the many hundreds of residents who have supported our campaign to revive the EMD over the last decade and helped us keep this issue at the forefront of the local agenda.

For the very latest news updates, join our mailing list via this link.

A complete history of the McGuffin Film Society and the campaign to save the EMD Cinema – with exclusive photos and film footage – can be found here.

The full planning appeal decision documents can be viewed here. Media reports from the BBC, London Evening Standard and Waltham Forest Guardian can be foundhere,here,hereandhere. Articles from Snipe Magazine and the film journal Vertigo can befoundhereandhere. A further BBC news report can be found here with additional media coverage here, here, here and here.

Hundreds of McGuffin supporters gather outside the EMD to mark the fifth anniversary of the venue’s closure in 2008.

In a statement he said “Cinemas and live venues like The Granada in Walthamstow where the Stones played in the early days, learning our craft on the way, are the lifeblood of our cultural history. They helped launch British popular music onto a world stage and should continue to function as places of entertainment and enjoyment. It’s heartbreaking to hear such a beautiful, important historical building and centre of entertainment is being lost to the local community. I fully support the campaign to keep it open and provide film, music and the arts for generations to come.”

Other high profile supporters backing the McGuffin campaign include actors Alan Davies, Paul McGann, Meera Syal, Griff Rhys Jones and Tony Robinson as well as musician Professor Green and writers Alain de Botton and Kim Newman. Their comments and statements can be foundhere.

The feature-length documentary ‘Alfred Hitchcock in East London’ is now available as a limited edition DVD.

‘Alfred Hitchcock in East London’ explores the legendary director’s mysterious early days and uncovers many lesser known facts about his formative years. Retracing Hitchcock’s footsteps around Leytonstone, Limehouse, Stratford and Hackney, the film reveals how his early London life profoundly influenced his later work. The documentary also examines Hitchcock’s associations with the long forgotten Walthamstow film industry and tells the previously untold story of his support for an East London cinema during the height of his Hollywood fame.

The film identifies the key sites from the director’s youth which still exist today and features contributions from Roy Ward Baker (assistant director, ‘The Lady Vanishes’), Charles Barr (author of the seminal ‘English Hitchcock’), veteran actor Murray Melvin and numerous others. It paints a portrait of Hitchcock and his roots which is radically different to previous biographies and documentaries.

“a fascinating insight” – Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

“a rarely seen side of the master which is often conveniently ignored in favour of his later Hollywood success” – USA Today

The DVD can now be purchased from Amazon here or the Merchandise page here.Alternatively, send a cheque / postal order for £10 payable to ‘McGuffin’ to: The McGuffin Film Society, 458 Hoe Street, London E17 9AH.